Swiss Democracy: Challenges and Solutions

Switzerland is a landlocked country situated at the confluence of western, central and southern Europe. It is officially known as the Swiss confederation, which is a semi-direct democratic federal republic. The political system of Swiss government is characterized as being a direct democracy and a representative democracy. Swiss political system, being a direct democracy encourages the Swiss Parliament to come up with broad-based compromise solutions. Additionally, the citizens are also free to challenge any law passed by the parliament or to put forth a change to the federal constitution at any time. There are various challenges associated with direct democracy such as the possibility of people making decisions about difficult problems without having appropriate knowledge of the matter, or a populist agenda influencing critical decisions. This book aims to shed light on the various challenges and solutions in relation to the Swiss democracy. It will provide comprehensive knowledge to the readers.